She works hard for the "money"

Hehe. I thought of that title last night in the shower... aren't I clever? :P

Anyway, today was OK. We got a fair amount of work done, I think. Man, I'm just tired... I've been here almost 11 hours so far today (and I was here 11 yesterday), and there's ALWAYS more to do.

Of note: Grand Canyon trip seems to be working out well, AND I got it pushed back a week! :) In a few weeks, I'm taking the 5th grade portion of my class to a schweet heart museum thingee, and the next day, I'm taking the 4th graders to a science museum where we *may* get to see the Body Worlds 3 exhibit!! :)

Also, our newspaper project is slowly coming along. I'm trying to get literature circles started (very slowly) next week, so we'll see how that goes.

After school today, we had a teachers' meeting in the computer lab. The purpose was to analyze assessment data we've been collecting since the beginning of the school year... Anyway, at one point, the superintendant actually said, "Take [the test scores] personally; they're your kids." Wowzas. No pressure there. Furthermore, the district is trying to get each class to bring 60% of its students up one level (of which there are only 3) before the end of the school year. Um... For my kids who are already at the top level, it's impossible to bring them up anymore! For the rest, 60% seems to be asking a lot. They tell us *what* we have to do, but they don't really help us with the *how*. In my superintendant's defense, though, he's just trying to do the best he can with the mess he's got, and I can't really fault him for that. I'm just trying to do the best *I* can, and I'm nowhere near my potential.

Hmph. I suppose I'll do a teeny bit more grading (to stay up on it), then I'm out. Peace!